Hi! So I know I left you with that surprise ending with Lin at the end, but hopefully you'll understand more about her whereabouts...next chapter. :( This one had too much to do with Kaede and it wouldn't fit in with the title. The Cause: Kaede helping Kazuma and Kazwazoe. The Effect: Well, you're just going to have to read and find out. :)

Chapter 21: The Effect of the Cause

Chihiro's POV

"Chihiro, I think there may be a way to find Kaede." Granny always had the best ideas. She constantly knew what was needed to be done and how to get it done. That was why she, as well as her sister, was one of the most awed spirits in the land. Yubaba was the most feared out of the two, but she earned that title when she opened the bathhouse.

"What are you thinking, Granny?" I asked. She was rummaging through the cabinets once more, looking for the answer to our problems. She pulled out her most prized possession: the golden seal.

"You think that old thing can help?" I asked. It was very old and the magic seemed to grow weaker by the day. But Zeniba always had faith in magic, no matter how little or immense the amount.

"Of course I do!" She shouted, "This seal has helped me on many occasions! Trust me, Chihiro." Trust was hard to give and harder to keep, I thought. However, I nodded. Granny never failed me before, and she wouldn't have then.

"Now, let's get this started." Zeniba sat down at the head of the table, everyone else surrounding the sides. Even No-Face wanted to be a part of it. She placed the golden seal directly in front of her and it began floating only a few inches away. Yubaba and she were casting a spell that was so inaudible a dog wouldn't even hear the whispers I did. The golden seal's head opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue.

"I don't suppose either of you have something of hers on you?" Granny asked. Haku opened his coat and began searching for something.

"Would a bit of her magic work?" She nodded. As he began rummaging around his coat, Haku seemed to become fretful, because he couldn't find what he was looking for. "What?" He questioned, "It…it can't be!"

"Haku, where is her magic?" I asked. He threw his coat on the table, but there was no glowing magic anywhere. And once again, things were beginning to make sense.

"Wait, do you think…she really…" Haku nodded; he understood what I was suggesting. Kaede had finally apologized for her misconduct! She realized how wrong she was for running away. Kaede wanted to make amends with us and ask for forgiveness.

"The moment she apologized her magic returned to her! And the wall came down! That's how Kawazoe and Kazuma were able to take her." My tone saddened after I realized her forgiving us was one of the reasons how she was taken. If she had been stubborn for just one more day at the least Kawazoe and Kazuma wouldn't have been able to take her.

"Do you have anything else of Kaede's?" Granny asked, trying to keep the positivity. I looked down. I couldn't think of anything we had that belonged to Kaede.

"Mom!" Screams came rushing through the front door of the cottage. Even though Zeniba was my Granny, she was also Yuki's mother. And she, along with Kage, Hamano, and Taro, came rushing through the door.

"Sweetie, what's the matter?" Granny asked. They took a moment to breathe and question why Haku and I were there. "Why are they here? Do you already know?" I figured Yuki realized Kawazoe and Kazuma were back. "Yes, Kaede has been kidnapped by them. How did you-"

"Wait, Kaede was kidnapped?" Kage asked, surprised by my response, "By whom?" Obviously they were worried about something other than our daughter. Which meant something bigger and worse was going on. "I thought you two knew," I replied, "I thought that's why you came here."

"What? I thought she was back at the bathhouse. Kage and I finished work and the other employees said you two were gone. But what I'm thinking of is far greater than anything you could ever imagine! I didn't think it was possible!" Kage cut her off to explain. "We saw Osamu with…well…"

"Kawazoe?" I asked, "Or was it Kazuma? I don't care, either way they're getting a hell of a punishment!" I was enraged. I wanted to eradicate the two Dark Spirits once more, but I wanted this time to be more painful. I wanted to be the last thing they saw before they took their last breath. No one messed with me or my family without paying a hefty price.

"How did you know they were even alive?" Yuki questioned.

"Because," I began, "they were the ones who took Kaede." Yuki looked as though she were going to have a heart attack. Luckily, she was a spirit and that was near impossible. She took a seat next to me and stared at the table. Kage placed a hand on her shoulder and comforted her. Yuki and Kaede were very close, and what I had told her tore apart her world.

"We could use your help in finding her," I suggested. Kage nodded in agreement. However, I had completely ignored the reason why Kage and Yuki had come in the first place.

"We could ask Osamu," Yuki said, "I was afraid to get any closer, but he and Kawazoe aren't that far from here." Kawazoe. I was hoping it would be her. She was just as ruthless as Kazuma, but I had a bone to pick with her.

"Granny, we'll be right back. I promise." I looked her straight in the eye and swore to her. I was going to catch Kawazoe and force her to admit to everything. Yuki told Hamano and Taro to stay with Granny and Aunt Yubaba until they returned. Taro was still young and didn't understand much of what was happening, but Hamano was old enough to help him through it.

"Come on," I ordered, "We don't have much time. Erikku was here and said we had at most twelve hours, or else…"

"Or else what?" Yuki and Kage asked in unison. I bite my lip and looked at Haku.

"We'll tell you on the way."

Kaede's POV

"Hello? I would like a little explanation here!" I was becoming very impatient with Kazuma. He wouldn't give me any information about how things were to play out in the next few hours. I felt that was all we would have left before his plan was fulfilled.

"Do you ever shut up?" He shouted. I was driving his nerves to the limit, and I was very pleased with my work. He deserved every annoying word out of my mouth. "I do when I get what I want."

"You're parents must have spoiled you more than I thought. I never knew why they wanted more children. After their first, I would have been done."

"Hello? Your insults are still capable of being heard!" Even though my arms and legs were tied up, my mouth was open wide. He couldn't do anything about that at the moment. He was trying to concentrate on the potion. There was something too familiar with each of the ingredients. Only the teardrop didn't make sense to me. Each item was connected to my mother in one way or another. They all were all natural part of her. I gave Kazuma the hair, he forcefully took the teardrop, but how he obtained the last ingredient was beyond me. I couldn't even give it a name.

"I'm already here," I began, "there's no way I could get out. Why not just tell me your plan? Who am I going to tell?" He looked up from his desk and stared at me intensively.

"Well, since there is no possible way you could escape from those chains," I nodded in agreement. "Alright, you want to know the lowdown?" I nodded, excited to hear what all these events were leading up to be. I was anything but excited when he finished.

"The first ingredient: hair. It is a part of your mother's body, which means it's a part of her soul. Her hair is who she is. It is also one similarity you two share." I stared at my chocolate brown hair. It was exactly like my mother's. He was right about that. "I'm guessing you remember when your mother's hair was cut off, huh?" I gasped. That wasn't too long ago. That was on Mai and Haru's birthday. "Yes, that was the negligence of Kawazoe, who didn't understand that it had to be one full strand, not just a small, simple cut off version."

"And then there's a teardrop. Tears happen when people cry. On most occasions, people cry when they are sad. I knew how often you and your mother fought, and assumed it wouldn't take much for her to cry over her delinquent daughter. Kawazoe wasn't skilled enough to collect a simple teardrop, but you obtained it fairly easily."

"And lastly, my favorite of them all!" Kazuma grabbed one of the bottles, the one I was unable to describe. The red coloring did not bode well with me. "Blood." I did not show my fear. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. However, inside, I went crazy. How was he able to acquire blood from my mother? Hardly anyone bled in the Spirit World. There was almost no possible way. "You're obviously curious as to how I was able to gain your mother's blood. It was hard, I should say. I had to make sure everything was perfect. The fog was the perfect distraction."

"That was you?" I shouted. Things started making sense to me. I noticed my mom cut her arm the day of Mai and Haru's birthday. Then her hair was slice off on one side. The only thing they needed from me was the teardrop and a new piece of hair. I was their pawn.

"You catch on fast," Kazuma said, "Things are about to change not only for you and me, my dear, but for everyone, both spirits and humans." My eyes widened. Nothing that powerful had ever been done before. "What are you talking about? That's impossible. If anything were to happen, it would happen to one world, not both. It's just-"

"Impossible, I know," he whined, "you think everything is impossible. Well listen here, deary, in the Spirit World, nothing is impossible. The sooner you learn that the better." I wanted to burst into tears. He was winning, and there was no way I could stop him. I wanted to fight back from the chains, but the more I resisted the tighter they got. (Osamu had magic, too.) The only thing that I couldn't get off my mind was how hungry and thirsty I was.

"Need a snack?" Kazuma asked, not wasting any effort to look me in the eye. "Here," he teleported a bowl of Mizo Soup and a glass of water, "You'll need your strength when your parents arrive." My hunger took over. The bowl was just as far as my chains would let my arms go. I benevolently ate the delicacy given to me. Seconds later, the last thing I saw was a smile on that wretched man's face.

Chihiro's POV

"Osamu! Osamu!" I was riding on the back of Haku's dragon form and Yuki was on Kage's. We had traveled not too far when Yuki spotted our most trusted employee and the prisoner he had captured. Kawazoe. She was tied up with magic rope. No spell could break it. Only the person who cast it could release his or her victim.

"Chihiro, Master Kohaku," He said, bowing to us. Haku and Kage landed on the ground and changed back. Yuki and I stood next to them. "What a pleasure to see you. I was just on my way to the bathhouse to inform you that-"

"That the Dark Spirits had returned," I finished his sentence, "Yes, I am aware of their emergence. They took Kaede." Osamu gasped. "What?" He questioned. I nodded.

"So, Kawazoe," I began, moving in closer to her, "nice to see you again." She gave a sarcastic smile. "Likewise. How's the daughter?" My smile faded as I slapped her across the cheek. "Don't talk about my daughter that way. You and your so-called leader Kazuma took her. Now, where is she?"

"Honestly, Chihiro, how stupid do you think I am?" She replied, and ended with a laugh. "Pretty damn stupid, I thought," It brought me great pleasure to wipe the smile of her face. But it was not the time for cracking jokes. I needed to know where my daughter was. I needed to find her and bring her home and tell her everything would be okay. And then, somehow help her to forget everything that had happened.

"No matter where you look, you'll never find her. Kaede's locked away tight, and no amount of searching will find her. Unless…" I hated making bargains with the enemy, but in situations like that, I had to hear her out. "What?" I asked.

"In exchange for my freedom and for Kazuma and me to roam free around the Spirit World, I will show you where your daughter is." It was a hard deal. Kaede would be returned to us if we gave them total sovereignty.

"Chihiro, we have to think about this," Haku said, "We can find her; we don't need Kawazoe. Erikku gave us the clue. We just need to follow that." As much as my motherly instinct was telling me to agree with Kawazoe, my common sense was telling me Haku was right. But how could I give up the opportunity to find my daughter on the knowledge of Erikku? He had helped us before. He predicted what had happened and everything was true. I never doubted him before, and I didn't in the time I needed him most.

"You know?" I said, "You can take your offer and shove it." The smile on her face faded, and I stood next to my husband. We were a team, and nothing was going to pull us apart. "I'll tell Kazuma we saw you. Then I'll give you two a nice reunion…in prison." I turned away to face Yuki and Kage, and they smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Chihiro, you are making a huge mistake!" Kawazoe shouted, "I am the only one who knows where Kaede is located. You back out on me, you back out on her."

"I don't need to listen to your crap, alright?" I replied, "I will find her, and you will lose. Again." Osamu grabbed her tied-up arms and walked her away.

"So, I guess we can-" Yuki didn't even finish her sentence. She instantly fell to the ground, unconscious. Kage grabbed her and held her head. "Yuki!" Kage was next. He lay next to her unconscious. Haku joined them, but before I was next, I saw our captors. And he was going to be much more than fired when I was through with him.

Ryo's POV

"So Chihiro and Haku had three kids, the oldest being the little brat. Kaede was helping that bastard Kazuma and his bitch Kawazoe because she hated her mom and wanted her life to be easier, but in reality they were just using her for those ingredients which you two still don't know what they'll be used for?"

"Wow, you've been away from here way longer than I thought, Emi." Rin said. We all were running out of the bathhouse. Raiden was oblivious to what was going on so we left him behind. He would have gotten in the way. We made it to the bridge by the time Emi was briefed on the way things had been for the past sixteen years.

"Please, I asked to be called Lin. Out in the world, I'm Emi. At the bathhouse, my name is Lin. All I needed was my real name and I was free, but now that I have it, I so desperately wish to be Lin." Once we made it to the bridge, we were clueless. There was no way to go anywhere except by foot. None of us had the kind of magic to get to where we needed to go.

"Great," Rin said, "now what?" She was always a downer on things, but I was still optimistic. The Spirit World had ways of helping those in desperate situations.

"For now, we walk." I said. I started the journey, but the two girls were reluctant to follow me. "Come on, Rin," Lin said, "What's the worst that could happen?" And with that, we were off into the woods, but what lay ahead was beyond us.

So, everything that's going on is a result of Kaede's decision. Because she helped them, Chihiro, Haku, Kage, and Yuki are now the next victims of Kazuma; Kaede is trapped and there is no way of escaping; Ryo FINALLY proclaimed his love for Kaede to someone other than Rin that one time; and Lin coming back...that'll be explained next chapter. Most of next chapter will consist of Ryo, Rin, and Lin. And don't get confused with Rin and Lin. L for Chihiro's friend, R for Kaede's friend. I figured it would be easier to call her Lin since everyone knows her by that. Keep reading and please stay with me to the end! I'm hoping to have more than 25 chapters, but probably less than 30. Thanks to all my supporters!

Anabelle ;)